Supreme Court won't rehear Trump's appeal of E. Jean Carroll case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined for a second time to consider former President Donald Trump's appeal concerning the E. Jean Carroll case. This decision reiterates the high court's stance from June, leaving intact a jury's finding that Trump is liable for sexual abuse and defamation against the writer.

A civil federal jury in 2023 determined that Trump should pay Carroll $5 million in damages. The trial focused on allegations that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll in a department store changing room in the 1990s and subsequently lied about it when she publicly accused him in 2019. The jury, comprising nine members, unanimously found that the evidence more likely than not supported Carroll's claims after deliberating for less than three hours.

Trump has consistently denied Carroll's allegations, labeling them a "hoax" and questioning her credibility. He presented no witnesses during the trial and did not attend. His denials have been central to the defamation claims in this case and a separate 2024 trial where a jury awarded Carroll over $83 million for related defamation allegations. Carroll's attorney had urged the jury to award damages sufficient to "make him stop" defaming her client.

In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Trump's legal team argued that an appeals panel had failed to rule on whether he possessed presidential immunity when he made statements about Carroll. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on this specific immunity claim. A spokesperson for Trump's legal team issued a statement referring to the Carroll matters as a "Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes."

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Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes.